What’s on in north Northumberland - November 19 - November 26

Shaun Brown

See what’s on in north Northumberland for the next seven days. Covering theatre, films, live music, walks and other events taking place in Northumberland this week. If you have an entry email the address above.

Stage/Theatre

Tonight

National Theatre Live: Of Mice and Men. Alnwick Playhouse, 7pm. The hit Broadway production Of Mice and Men, filmed on stage in New York by National Theatre Live, comes to UK cinemas. Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee James Franco (as seen in 127 Hours and Milk) and Tony Award nominee Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids and Girls) star in this much-anticipated screening of an acclaimed production. Tickets: premier £16.50, standard £15.50, concs £14.50, child or student £10.

Saturday

Debs Newbold and Laurel Swift present Under her Skin. Whittingham Memorial Institute. 7.30pm. A classic British folktale with a contemporary twist. Acclaimed storyteller Debs Newbold (principal storyteller at The Globe Theatre London) and multi-instrumentalist Laurel Swift bring a defiantly 21st Century attitude to an ancient sea‐tale in a pioneering new work of performance storytelling. Tickets: adults £8, concs £7, child £4, family £18. Bookings: 01665 574964 or online at www.highlightsnorth.co.uk

Thursday, November 26

A Winter’s Tale. Alnwick Playhouse, 7pm. The first season of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company Live promises an exceptional series of plays broadcast to cinemas from London’s Garrick Theatre over the course of a year. The season begins with The Winter’s Tale. Shakespeare’s timeless tragicomedy of obsession and redemption is re-imagined in a new production co-directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh. King Leontes appears to have everything: power, wealth, a loving family and friends. But sexual jealousy sets in motion a chain of events with tragic consequences. Running time: 3 hours 30 mins (Approx.) Tickets: premier £16.50, standard £15.50, concs £14.50, child/student £10.

COMEDY

Wednesday

Fred MacAulay: Twenty Fifteen. The Maltings, Berwick. 7.30pm. It sounds like a wrong tennis score, but Twenty Fifteen is a hugely significant year for one of Scotland’s best (and best loved) stand-up comedians. Back on the road again after 18 years at BBC Radio Scotland, Fred looks back on family life at home, and forward to how his country will shape up after the referendum of 2014. In his first tour since 2012 and with a new show, as well as looking backwards and forwards, he’ll probably look sideways at politics, sport, the environment and there will undoubtedly be a colour supplement with a look at ‘celebrity’. Age guidance 16+. Tickets: Stalls £18.50 & £16, (£10 disability concs, £10 student concs, £10 unemployed concs, Over 60s concs £17 & £14.50), Circle £20, Box (2 people) £48. To book a box for this event, please contact our Box Office 01289 330999.

Films

Tomorrow

Spectre. Alnwick Playhouse, 7.30pm. While M is fighting a political war to keep the service alive, Bond is back to uncover the dark secrets of sinister organisation SPECTRE. Tickets: premier £7.80, standard £7.50, concs £7, child/student £5.50, friends £6.75. Certificate (12A)

Tomorrow

Film night. Shilbottle Community Hall. Doors open 6.45pm for 7pm start. Look for notices at the Hall for details of the film being shown. Free entrance. Donations to hall funds welcome. Refreshments.

Tuesday

Berwick Film Society: Leviathan. The Maltings, Berwick, 7.30pm. Kolya is a man battling against corruption in a small fishing town on a remote Russian peninsula, the setting for an allegorical tale depicting the fateful influences of power and money in contemporary times. Tickets: £7.75, £6.75 concs, BFS Passholders free. Certificate (15).

Wednesday

ASPECT film series > Special Preview: The Host. The Maltings, Berwick, 7pm. While investigating her late parents’ involvement with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (BP) the filmmaker came across the letters of a petroleum geologist in Iran in the 1930s, who would later embark on a search for the origins of civilisation. Setting out on its own exploration to decipher signs from the fragmented images buried in the BP archive, The Host interweaves stories drawn from both personal memory and from the records of an imperial history. Pennell’s compelling film is about the stories we tell, the facts and fictions we live by – and their consequences. Tickets: £5, £3 concs, child £3 (16 and under).

Wednesday

Film afternoon. Shilbottle Community Hall, 1.45pm for 2pm start. See hall for details of the film showing. Refreshments available. Entrance free, but donations welcome for hall funds.

Captive Memories: Surviving WWII Far East Captivity. St Mary’s Middle School, Williams Way, Belford, NE70 7NX, 2pm. Belford Museum invites you to an illustrated talk given by Meg Parkes, honorary research fellow, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, daughter of a Far Eastern Prisoner of War and co-author of “Captive Memories”. Cost is £2, payable at the door. Doors open at 1.30pm.

Wednesday

Mark Littlejohn - A Different View. Alnwick Playhouse, 7.30pm. Join members of the Alnwick and District Camera Club for their annual guest speaker, Mark Littlejohn, winner of the Take a View UK Landscape Photographer of the Year for 2014. Based on the edge of the English Lake District, Mark specialises in moody, atmospheric early morning conditions. Tickets £10.

Live Music

Tonight

Glendale Accordion and Fiddle Club. Guest artist Janet Graham and her band will be at the Glendale Hall, Wooler, from 7.30pm until 11pm. Members’ entry is £5, visitors £6.50. This includes a buffet.

Saturday

Met Opera: Lulu - Berg. Alnwick Playhouse, 5.30pm. This performance is part of our stunning Met Opera 2015-16 season, broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Acclaimed artist and director William Kentridge (The Nose) applies his unique theatrical vision to Berg’s notorious femme fatale who shatters lives, including her own. Musically, the masterful score is in the sure hands of Met Music Director James Levine. Soprano Marlis Petersen has excited audiences around the world with her portrayal of the tour-de-force title role – a wild journey of love, obsession, and death. Susan Graham joins a winning cast, including Daniel Brenna and Johan Reuter. Tickets: premier £21, standard £20, concs £19, child/student £10, friends £18. Running time 4hrs 10mins, including two intervals.

O Taste and See’. Norham Church, 6pm. Norham Church is due to mark the official culmination of its 850th anniversary celebrations with a pre-Advent concert. The concert will feature music celebrating the five senses by Renaissance and later composers, performed by the Edinburgh University Renaissance Singers. Tickets are £7 (children free). For more information contact Rob Kelsey on 01289 382325.

Rothbury Roots Presents: Bob Fox. The Queens Head, Rothbury. Doors 7.30pm. Starts 8pm. Bob’s long history in North East folk music has seen him work with Tom McConville, Benny Graham and with Jez Lowe in the fantastic Pitmen Poets project. We’re delighted to bring this Warhorse veteran to Rothbury Roots for you. Admission £10. Tickets From The Queens Head, Rothbury. Phone: 01669 620470.

events

Today

Afternoon bingo. Shilbottle Community Hall, 1.30pm. £1 per person. Enjoy tea and cakes with your games. £2.40 for six games.

Tonight

Beaujolais Nouveau night. The Tankerville Arms, Eglingham, 7.30pm. Four-course French themed menu, a bottle of the Beaujolais per couple, and a talk by a wine merchant for £29 per person.

Today and every Thursday

Gateway drop-in. Shilbottle Community Hall, 10am to 4pm. Drop in to meet friends over refreshments and maybe play cards, read newspapers, watch TV, use the internet, or in the afternoon, join a craft group.

Today until January 8

Into The Woods. Gallery 45, Felton. 10am to 5pm. A group exhibition showing new work by the eight resident artists and designers of Studios at 45.

Today until January 24

Berwick Visual Arts presents: Where is the Line? Drawings from mima’s collection. The Granary Gallery, Berwick, 11am. Where is the Line? brings together a number of works from the collection of the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. Free admission.

Saturday

Christmas Fair and Open Studios. Gallery 45, Felton, 11am to 5pm. Our eight resident artists will be joined by more than 20 other designers and makes to offer a high quality Christmas shopping event.

Saturday

Family Ceilidh. Shilbottle Community Hall, 5pm to 7pm. Dacning to Heads on the Block. In aid of Save the Children. Tickets: adults £4, children £2, family ticket £10 (two adults and up to four children). Tickets available from Avril Huntly on 07772 794872.

Wednesday

A meeting of the Alnwick Wildlife Group. St Michael’s Church Hall, Cannongate, Alnwick, 7.30pm. Graham Bell will give a talk entitled “What’s that Wader”. Followed by the usual free refreshments and a time to chat. Non members - £2.

Every Friday

Coffee morning. Enjoy a cup of rich coffee and tasty biscuits and do your bit for the lifeboats every Friday morning at Alnwick Playhouse. Coffee is served from 10am upstairs in the bar.